


A Small World

by cells55



Category: The Mindy Project
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-22
Updated: 2014-04-27
Packaged: 2018-01-20 09:52:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1506134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cells55/pseuds/cells55
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mindy and Peter go for drinks after another rough day, post-breakup. Angst ensues.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> At some point I will write something longer than 1000 words...! The TMP/Dandy obsession continues to grow. Enjoy, all.

It was exactly her kind of bar: there was a wide range of bar snacks available, all of which were deep-fried or smothered in sauce; the drinks had twirly straws and were delightfully unnatural colours; and it seemed as if the music had been lifted straight from her iTunes Most Played list. Was there a mood that Beyoncé and Miley couldn’t lift her out of?

“I love to say I told you so,” Peter piped up, appearing at her elbow with two glasses: hers, the exact shade of green from the Wicked posters. “Didn’t I say you’d perk up once we found somewhere to sit? I know you like to sit. And drink.”

“I do like sitting down,” she agreed, clinking her glass of emerald liquid against his more sedate beer. “Good call, Peter.”

“I sensed you needed booze, and mozzarella sticks,” he plopped in to the seat opposite her. “I’m very much a savant in that way.”

She giggled. These days, Peter was one of the few who could lift her out of her mood. “You’re a modern miracle.”

“It’s been said before.” He glanced around, letting his gaze linger on a leggy blonde at the bar who was leaving very little to the imagination with her outfit. “And I know you like chain places.”

“Sometimes you just want to be where no one knows your name – “

“Mindy,” an all-too familiar voice interrupted. She felt herself lowered back in to that dark mood which had prompted the trip in the first place; she didn’t need to look up to know who was there. Looking up gave her the added bonus of seeing him with his arm awkwardly round some chick’s waist, though. So that was good.

“Danny,” Peter replied for them, and even his voice was tense. “Sally. It is a small world after all.”

“Of all the bars in all of Manhattan,” Sally grinned, apparently oblivious to an atmosphere so cold it was like the arctic tundra. Or, whatever, New York in January. Same thing. “My favourite brother.”

“You’re definitely in my top three,” Peter replied, as lightly as he could, and glanced over at his drinks companion. “Min, did you meet my sister Sally?”

Mindy tore her gaze away from the other woman's hip, where Danny's hand had rested only moments ago. "Uh, yeah, hi. I…forgot Peter has a sister..."

"I get that a lot," Peter replied cheerily. "One chick couldn't believe I had a family at all. She thought I hatched out of an egg or something."

They all paused to let that mental image sink in. Mindy was doing a great job of looking everywhere except into Danny's eyes. The walls had never been so fascinating.

"Well it's nice to meet you, Mindy," Sally said at last. "Petey's been telling me a lot about you and the practice. Figures you guys would be a thing now," and she punctuates the word ‘thing’ with a suggestive wink.

Danny made a noise that was hard to define - not quite a cough, or a laugh, or a sob even. Mindy finally looked at him properly; he was pale in the false yellow glow of the bar lighting. "I think they're just friends."

Friends. She was everyone’s friend. Funny how a perfectly innocuous word had become too heavy to carry, lately. “Oh, yeah, we’re just friends,” Mindy agreed, straining to sound nonchalant. It was hard when green liquor had dulled her senses. “That’s my role in everyone’s life. Friend.”

Sally nodded with a smile that was trying to pretend not to be confused. “Oh, well. That’s…good.”

There was a pained silence, stretched between the four of them for what felt like hours, especially to someone so prone to exaggeration as Mindy. Then, she turned back to Peter. “Actually, you know, I think we should go. Back to my place. For…drinks.”

Danny looked like he’d been punched in the stomach. He had that look on his face a lot lately, usually when he thought she couldn’t see. Like he was the injured party. Like _he_ was the one who was heartbroken. But, as usual, he said nothing. Why change the habit of a lifetime, right?

“Sure, okay. If you want,” Peter agreed, standing up and handing Mindy her jacket. He glanced over at his sister. “I guess I’ll see you round, Sal…you in town for much longer?”

Sally glowed like a nuclear reactor, tucking her hand in to Danny’s. “I wasn’t planning on it, but…”

Okay, well, that was enough, now. There was only so much she could put herself through before it eroded her self-esteem completely. “You guys have fun,” she spoke up brightly. “The green stuff is great if you need a sugar crash in your future.” And she grabbed Peter’s hand, tugging him past Sally and Danny – the fact that there was now a Sally-and-Danny, instead of the combination of names which seemed so much more right, was a feeling not unlike a descent in to madness – and towards the door.

Outside, it was cold, and she was crying and walking and cursing like a sailor, and poor Peter was clearly out of his depth, but at least they were out of there. During the day, yes, she had to persevere and be brave and put on a front. She had to be Beyoncé Pad Thai, a persona which was so much harder to maintain these days. But now, it was after hours, and she was damned if she was going to sit there and take that kind of emotional battering.

“Min?” Peter’s voice just about cut through the fog. “You okay?”

At least there was someone she could be honest with. “No.”


	2. Don't Worry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Mindy and Peter leave the bar, Sally is left wondering what exactly she's missing.

Sally felt like that character in a movie, the only one who doesn't know the main character's got cancer or something. They all had the finished puzzle and she was missing the core piece. The picture wasn't complete.

"She seems nice," she offered, as lightly as she could.

Danny was staring at the door, as if an image of the pair was still broadcast there in living colour. "Yeah," he obviously remembered he was part of a conversation. She felt like she'd just woken him from a dream. "She's...she's great."

She watched him carefully. She usually had a pretty good read on guys, but this one in particular was still impossible, like that copy of War and Peace she had picked up in the library as a teen, not realising it was the original translation. He was basically a mixture of foreign symbols that looked familiar but together made very little sense. 

"Help me out here, Daniel," she said at last, and at least he bothered to look at her this time. "You guys clearly have, like, some issues with each other. A feud stretching back centuries? Bloodshed and doom?" She paused before adding, hoping for a smile, "Did she try taking you to a farmer's market, too?"

His smile didn't quite manage to crack through the facade. "Nothing that dramatic. It's nothing at all, really," and he sounded like he was trying to convince himself as well as her. "Don't worry."

She laughed, as if this situation was anything but sad. "You know what makes me worry? When someone says 'don't worry'."

He shuffled from one foot to the other, looking around for a lifebelt. "Don't you at least want a drink first?"

Eyebrows raised. "It's so bad I need a drink in my hand?"

Reluctantly, he met her gaze again. 

"Oh." Realisation came like the dawning of a new, shitty day. "Ohhh. You guys...you and Mindy...?"

The guy looked like he'd prefer to be drowning right now. She would've felt sorry for him if she wasn't so completely intrigued, and, yes, a little depressed. "We - look, we dated, kind of, for a little while a couple months ago, but it's really not anything - "

"How can you 'kind of' date someone?" she wondered.

He raised his eyebrow at her, this time. "Our first text communication was you sending me a picture of your breasts."

"Oh, no, I know - I meant how can *you* kind of date someone," she clarified, reaching to idly brush some lint from his jacket. "You're basically an old married guy without actually having a wife. I can't imagine you half-assing anything. You couldn't even half-ass *this*," and she gestured vaguely between them.

He got cuter, if it was possible, as his discomfort levels rose. "I wouldn't say I half-assed it with Mindy, whatever that means," he replied. "We were just...keeping it quiet. That's all."

"Oh," she said again, profoundly. There was a pause while they both just looked at each other, serenaded by Katy Perry from the speakers behind them. Then: "Dude. You're in love with her."

"Uh, excuse - wait a second, did you - look, I think you got the - "

"Keep blustering. That's definitely a firm denial." She didn't know why she was smiling. "God, Danny, what the hell are you doing? You're not supposed to dump someone you're in love with, unless, like, it's in service to your country or because you're terminally ill and want to protect them." She tilted her head. "And actually, even then, there's totally a third act reunion."

"Third act - ?" He shook his head. "Look, Sally..."

"Don't sweat it," she smiled. "Really. You should go to her, though. Before my brother makes a move."

Something flashed across Danny's face then, a glorious mixture of horror, jealousy and revulsion. "They really are just friends, you know."

"Either way. Some guys need a little motivation." She leaned in to dot a kiss to his cheek. "It's been real, Dr Castellano. But I think you're due your reunion right about now."

She brushed his arm a little, with a fond smile, adding "take care" before she headed out of the door.

A little way down the block, in the brisk night air, she looked behind her, and smiled at what she saw. 

Danny Castellano, rushing in the opposite direction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This show/pairing/fandom continues to rule my life. Thank you so much for all the feedback, it is much appreciated! Also for the addictive fandom particularly on Tumblr, where I get lost in awesome gifs and fic. (You can find me here http://cesays.tumblr.com/ btw, always welcome new friends!)  
> \- C


	3. Poor Decisions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter: third-act resolution! Danny heads over to Mindy's apartment.

Rounding the corner of the brightly-lit hallway, he walked straight in to Peter. "Oh - sorry - I didn't see - "

The other man let out an exasperated sigh. "Dude, you're dating my _sister_ ," he waved a finger threateningly. "And now you're here on some drunken mission to bother Mindy?"

It was probably due to the beers Peter had consumed, but Danny felt the hostility rolling off of the guy in waves. "We broke up," he replied, then amended, " _She_ broke up. She said I'm..." He shuffled foot to foot, raising his gaze to the ceiling. "She said I'm 'in love with Mindy'."

"Well, duh," and the hostility seemed to lessen. "Any idiot with a set of eyes can see that."

Danny squirmed uncomfortably. "Look, Pete - I'm sorry, about - I made some poor decisions - "

"Save it for her, man," Peter nodded his head back towards the door a little way behind him. Danny's stomach did a little tumble forward. "You don't owe _me_ an apology." The awkward silence blossomed for a few moments, before he spoke again. "You're not a bad guy, Danny. You just made a stupid choice." He seemed to warm to his theme. "Yeah, you're not evil. Just dumb. Dumb as - "

"Okay, look, you don't need to labour the point here," Danny sighed heavily. "I get it. Fools rush in. Or...out, I guess."

"That's a good line. Try it on _her_ ," Peter grinned. He seemed to be enjoying Danny's pain far too much. "I'll leave you to it. A 5 just texted me saying she's downing shots in the bar by my place, which purely for convenience's sake makes her a 10." He paused, squinting thoughtfully. "Maybe an 8.5."

"Have fun with that," Danny patted his arm as he passed.

He reached the door to two faint sounds: Peter calling out "good luck, little buddy", and the sound of You've Got Mail. The scene in the movie theatre, if he wasn't mistaken. God, the fact that he could identify that _through a door_...

He hesitated, then knocked briskly. He could hear soft footsteps approach.

"Did you forget something? Or is it the siren call of Ryan and Hanks pulling you back in?" The door swung open; she had changed since the bar, her hair was pulled loosely back, and she was holding a tumbler of wine.

"Hey," he greeted her, his voice betraying him with a crack mid-word. He glanced at the glass in her hand. "Run out of clean wine glasses?"

She paused, as if she was considering just shutting the door again, then sighed. "I felt like the tumbler is a more honest choice when I want to drink a lot. I don't have to refill so often."

"Smart move," he nodded awkwardly. "Can I...come in?"

She took a swig of rosé. "Weren't you on a date?"

"It wasn't really a date," he replied. "It...we broke up, anyway. What there was to break up, at least - it's - broken, now, so - "

"Oof, dumped," she cringed, and stepped aside. "You want your own tumbler?"

"I'm really okay," he promised, following her in, over to the couch. "And what makes you think I was the one dumped?"

She raised an eyebrow, and cooed, "Oh, poor, sweet Danny..."

"Fine, fine." He glanced at the TV, then to her. "After earlier...I didn't think you'd let me in."

She downed the rest of her drink in an impressive gulp. "What about earlier?"

So she was going for nonchalance, huh? Didn't she know how well he knew her by now? "You shot outta there like a cannonball, Mindy."

She rolled her eyes. "Look. You wanted to be friends, and that's what we are - "

"You call this friendship? It's like you're that girl from Frozen - "

She quickly paused the DVD and held up a hand. There was a look of total delight and confusion on her face. "Whoa, whoa, _whoa_ \- _you_ have seen _Frozen_?"

He shrugged sheepishly. "Little Danni said I had to watch it."

She took that in for a moment, letting the idea percolate deliciously. "Okay, that's adorable. But I am _not_ some frozen ice queen, thank you very much."

"You kinda froze me out, Min," he pointed out quietly. "I've really missed you."

"You see me every day!"

"It's not the same."

She stood up, pacing over to the kitchen where she filled her glass right up. "You can't have your cake and eat it too, Castellano. Make out with me until you get bored, then switch back to friendship like nothing ever happened? That's not how I operate."

"Bored?" He stood up, too. "That is not what happened. You _know_ that's not what happened."

"No, Danny - I don't know what happened!" she gestured so wildly that some of the pink liquid splashed over her knuckles. "You went from hot to cold because - well, because you didn't want anyone to know about us, and I did?"

"That - that wasn't it either," he sighed. "I'm really, truly sorry if I made you feel that way. I..." He rubbed the back of his neck, his discomfort levels rising sharply. He should've thought this through before bowling over here. "Look, I've never been very good at - y'know, the mushy stuff. I thought I'd wreck things, because, well, that's been my experience to date so far, and I didn't want to lose you completely." He met her gaze. "I thought I was saving us both a lot of pain. Turns out I just created a whole load of _new_ pain instead."

She took a long sip, gazing at him over the rim. "I thought you were happy with the decision."

He threw his hands up in the air. "Well, I'm not, okay? I'm not. I made a huge fucking mistake and I regret it every day."

It was like the air was sucked out of the room for a second. She just stared at him, bewildered into silence. He knew he had to take advantage of the situation, since she wasn't speechless very often.

"You asked me why I started this, that night." The words were tumbling out now, a river rushing that he couldn't stop. "I started this because I couldn't just sit on my feelings anymore and try to squash them down. Because the need to kiss you and hold you was eating me alive. And even though I'm so gummed up inside that I could never tell you I'm deeply, ridiculously, embarrassingly in love with you, I still felt like I had to just give it a try or I'd - "

"Wait." Her voice, barely audible, still managed to cut through. "You were in love with me?"

He felt sick as he shook his head - she looked down, like that simple action had been a blow to the gut. "Not were. _Am_. I _am_ in love with you, Min."

There was a short pause, and she stepped closer to him - and then thumped him in the shoulder with surprising strength.

"Ow!"

"What the hell, Danny? You're in love with me? What about 'guys don't break up with girls they secretly want to be with' for god's sake?!"

"I'm an idiot," he pointed out. "We already knew that."

She exhaled heavily. "True..."

He caught her gaze again. "I'm sorry. You have no idea how sorry I am. The words have been sitting in my throat for too long." He rolled his eyes at himself. "Look, I don't expect anything, I just...wanted you to know..."

"Danny, you dumb little weirdo," she set her glass down. "I'm in love with you, too."

He paused, not wanting to get his hopes too high in case this was some kind of cruel prank. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," and she smiled. "I thought it was pretty obvious, but apparently you're more of an idiot than we realised."

He couldn't stop a smile, too, and closed the gap between them to gather her up, pull her against him. It felt right. It felt _amazing_. He tucked a finger under her chin, lifting it up so he could claim her lips with his.

A few blissful seconds passed, then she mumbled, "you know, I'm going to have to make you pay for this, Castellano."

He grinned against her lips. "I figured."

"I think you'll like it anyway."

"I _know_ I will."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This last chapter took longer, as I really wanted to do justice to the reunion moment. I hope I have! Thank you so much for your kind feedback on the story so far. As ever, you can find me on tumblr at cesays.tumblr.com, where I spend a lot of time shirking my responsibilities in life. ;)  
> \- C x


End file.
